What everyone else has said - don't pull the "shade" down with the little bed on it and it won't go into bedside mode. As of now (Verizon Q10, 10.1.0.2038 OS) bedside mode will NOT automatically come on like it used to on the OS 7 phones when plugged into a charger - it has to be done manually. You can toggle "phone calls only" on or off, but in bedside mode those are your two options. No text or email alerts (or anything else, except maybe emergency alerts) in bedside mode. Leave bedside mode off, you get all alerts, even while charging. You can always leave it plugged in and go to "clock", but unfortunately that won't be the nice dim red display.

As for the speed dials, you are correct you can't just hold the "Z" key to call a contact (using "Z" simply as an example) from the home screen. You can, however, set up any of the letter keys to be a one-touch speed dial from the phone dial pad screen. To do so, from the phone home screen swipe down to open the menu tab, select "settings", and then scroll down to "Keypress Smart Dial". Then associate your contact's call number with a specific key on the keypad. Just remember, when using this feature you have to be in the dial pad screen of the phone.

You can also set up a maximum of seven one-touch speed dials for contacts that will appear at the top of the screen when you go into the default phone screen (not the keypad screen, but the tab on the bottom left that the phone always open into). Simply click an open spot, select the contact's number you will want to call, and save it. It will then show a picture of the contact (if you have one saved), their first name and "mobile" or "home" or whatever category the number is assigned.

It's been quite a change for me too, coming from a 9930 but I'm getting the hang of this. Stick with it and I think you'll grow to love BB10. (And FYI, on another forum one of the moderators tweeted about the lack of speed dials from the home screen. BB replied that that feature was coming in a future build (10.2 maybe), so there's hope. Personally, I'd like the ability to switch sound profiles by holding down the "Q" key like I used to do. Fingers crossed.